I would rather someone be wrapped in the Constitution burning the flag than wrapped in the flag burning the Constitution. In other words, as Patrick Henry famously said, "Give me liberty or give me death."

Wednesday, January 31, 2007

I'm Reconsidering Impeachment of Bush

CLICK TO ENLARGE

The Libby trial has been very enlightening and great theatre to watch. It has the potential to nail Cheney at the same time as Libby if not after Libby. Now we learn that President Bush is officially implicated:

Wednesday 31 January 2007

Copies of handwritten notes by Vice President Dick Cheney, introduced at trial by defense attorneys for former White House staffer I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, would appear to implicate George W. Bush in the Plame CIA Leak case.

Cheney's notes, (SEE IMAGE ABOVE. CLICK TO ENLARGE)which were introduced into evidence Tuesday during Libby's perjury and obstruction-of-justice trial, call into question the truthfulness of President Bush's vehement denials about his prior knowledge of the attacks against Wilson. The revelation that Bush may have known all along that there was an effort by members of his office to discredit the former ambassador begs the question: Was the president also aware that senior members of his administration compromised Valerie Plame's undercover role with the CIA?

Further, the highly explicit nature of Cheney's comments not only hints at a rift between Cheney and Bush over what Cheney felt was the scapegoating of Libby, but also raises serious questions about potentially criminal actions by Bush. If Bush did indeed play an active role in encouraging Libby to take the fall to protect Karl Rove, as Libby's lawyers articulated in their opening statements, then that could be viewed as criminal involvement by Bush.

Libby's defense team first discussed the notes - written by Cheney in September 2003 for White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan - during opening statements last week. Wells said Cheney had written "not going to protect one staffer and sacrifice the guy that was asked to stick his head in the meat grinder because of incompetence of others": a reference to Libby being asked to deal with the media and vociferously rebut Wilson's allegations that the Bush administration knowingly "twisted" intelligence to win support for the war in Iraq.

However, when Cheney wrote the notes, he had originally written "this Pres." instead of "that was."

During cross-examination Tuesday morning, David Addington was asked specific questions about Cheney's notes and the reference to President Bush. Addington, former counsel to the vice president, was named Cheney's chief of staff - a position Libby had held before resigning."Can you make out what's crossed out, Mr. Addington?" Wells asked, according to a copy of the transcript of Tuesday's court proceedings.

"It says 'the guy' and then it says, 'this Pres.' and then that is scratched through," Addington said.

"OK," Wells said. "Let's start again. 'Not going to protect one staffer and sacrifice the guy ...' and then what's scratched through?" Wells asked Addington again, attempting to establish that Cheney had originally written that President Bush personally asked Libby to beat back Wilson's criticisms.

The reference to "the meat grinder" was understood to be the Washington press corps, Wells said. The "protect one staffer" reference, Wells said, was White House Political Adviser Karl Rove, whose own role in the leak and the attacks on Wilson are well documented.

Wells insinuated that Cheney's note, because it contained a reference to "this Pres." may have been an explosive piece of evidence that Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who at the time of the leak was White House counsel, withheld from investigators, citing executive privilege. Addington told Wells that when subpoenas were first issued by the Justice Department in the fall of 2003, demanding documents and emails relating to Wilson and Plame be preserved, he was given Cheney's notes and immediately recognized the importance of what the vice president had written. Addington said he immediately entered into a "discussion" with Gonzales and Terry O'Donnell, Cheney's counsel, about the note, but Addington did not say whether it was turned over to investigators in the early days of the probe.

GOI: President Pelosi. I like the sound of that.

And of course this blockbuster revelation isn't leading any of the news agencies. In fact I had to dig for it. We need to spread this story like wildfire.

2 comments:

JoeC
said...

THE PRESIDENT: "Listen, I know of nobody -- I don't know of anybody in my administration who leaked classified information. If somebody did leak classified information, I'd like to know it, and we'll take the appropriate action."

Bye Bye Cheney. Bye Bye Bushie. You're about to fall like top-heavy dominoes on a table with one short leg...

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About Me

I'm a 30 something, Generation X poster-child. I am a writer/artist who suffers from Schizoaffective disorder (bipolar + schizophenia). In addition I have P.T.S.D. and A.D.D. I'm married, I have a degree in U.S. and World History, (emphasis in African History) as well as a minor in World Geography. I am a European-style, Social Democrat. If you don't like my blog, DON'T READ IT. I'm not here to please you, or appease you. You can email me, but don't be an asshole--It's not smart to annoy a person with a psychological disease: jaymur@gmail.com